State of the Environment Reporting Network for Southern Africa SOENETSA

SOENETSA NEWSLETTER

Vol. 1 No. 1, December 1999

EDITORIAL

 State of the environment reports crucial for sustainable development

Welcome to the first issue of the SOEletter, a yearly electronic newsletter aimed at highlighting issues related to State of the Environment (SOE) reporting in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. For some time now countries within SADC have been trying to raise environmental awareness among the people of the region for the effective management of the environment. Regular SOE reports have been recognised as useful and powerful tools for this task. But unlike many European and North American countries, where the production of SOE reports date as far back as 1969, in Africa the concept only took off in the early 1990s, and many lessons still have to be learnt.

Critical to SOE reporting, for example, is a clear legal and institutional framework, which is not the case at the time. SOE reporting cannot be effective if it is ad hoc. There is, therefore, need for a clear policy on data collection and analysis involving various stakeholders both in and outside government and data collection should be an on going process.

Another shortcoming of SOE reporting in SADC has been that the rural areas tend to be excluded. The rural people, who on a daily basis, are forced to deal with the realities of natural resource management and a degraded environment, have hardly been involved in terms of SOE production or considered in terms of language communication.

SOE reporting has to be participative, with the public getting involved in both the preparation of SOE reports and finding solutions to environmental problems. Participation empowers people and empowerment is one of the principles of environment management. For example, in Agenda 21, Principle 10 it is stated that: "Environment issues are best handled with the participation of all concerned citizens at the relevant level. At the national level, each individual shall have appropriate access to information concerning the environment that is held by public authorities...and the opportunity to participate in decision-making processes. States shall facilitate and encourage public awareness and participation by making information widely available." 

In this issue, we will look closely at the State of the Environment Reporting Programmes from six SADC member states namely Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. We will also provide coverage on two SOE report launches and a workshop on the second report on The State of the Environment in Southern Africa, and more.